3 Hurricanes trade targets after winning 2026 Stanley Cup

The Hurricanes will need to figure out their goaltending situation for next year. Frederik Andersen played in 35 games in the regular season and went 16-14-5 with a 3.05 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage. While his regular-season numbers were not great, he did get the nod in the playoffs to start. He was solid in the first three rounds of the playoffs, but lost his job in the Stanley Cup Final. The soon-to-be 37-year-old was under a one-year contract with the Hurricanes this past season. There is the possibility that Andersen could retire or look for a new one-year deal.

The Hurricanes will still have Stanley Cup hero Brandon Bussi on the roster for the next three seasons, while Pyotr Kochetkov has one year left on his deal, but missed most of the season with an injury. If the Hurricanes want to shore up their goaltending situation, trading for Jordan Binnington is the answer. It was expected that Binnington was going to be traded at the deadline, but he was not moved.

He has a modified no-trade clause for the last year of his contract that has an AAV of $6 million. With the high cap number and the fact that Joel Hoffer was the better netminder for the Blues this past season, Binnington being moved makes sense. He has shown in his career to be a reliable goaltender, and would give the Canes flexibility to also see if Bussi is the long-term answer in between the pipes. If Bussi is the answer, they can allow Binnington to leave at the end of the season. If not, they can re-sign Binnington.

Eric Tulsky swings big again

Canes GM Eric Tulsky has swung big before, even when it has missed. He engineered the trade for Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall. It became clear that Rantanen was not going to extend his deal with the Canes, so Tulsky moved him to the Dallas Stars, bringing in Logan Stankoven. While the Rantanen trade did not work out in the sense that he is not with the Hurricanes, the big swing paid off huge for the Hurricanes in the 2026 playoffs. Hall was second on the team in points with 19 during the playoffs, while Stankoven led the team in goals with 11.

The Cane may be looking to move Jesperi Kotkaniemi this offseason, plus Jordan Stall and Jordan Martinook are both entering the final year of their deals. With that, Tulsky could try to swing big again here to reinforce the offense. One perfect option would be to have more conversations with the St. Louis Blues, potentially grabbing Jordan Kyrou as well.

Like Binnington, Kyrou seems to be on the way out in St. Louis. The Canes can attempt to snag both players in exchange for Kotkaniemi, draft picks, and prospects, as long as they can make the salary cap situation work. Kyrou would instantly give the Hurricanes another scoring option. While he had a down year in 2025-26, he scored 27 or more goals with 34 or more assists in the four seasons prior. He is also solid on the power play, and just 28 years old, would be another star scoring option for the future.

The Hurricanes are in a perfect situation to build on their 2025-26 campaign and make another run at the Cup. With the moves Tulsky has made recently, there is no doubt he should be able to pull the right strings again.